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PI INTERVIEW … WOLF SAYS FOREIGN LOBBYING BILL NOT ‘FOR JUST DISCUSSION PURPOSES’: If Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has his legislative way, a slew of top government officials — congress members, high-ranking executive branch and military members, ambassadors and CIA foreign station chiefs, among them — would face 10-year bans on lobbying for a foreign government. And the 16-term congressman tells PI that his newly filed bill to do just that isn’t a matter of political vanity. “I will use every method we possibly can to get this done. I am very serious about this,” said Wolf, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee. “It is not put in for just discussion purposes.”

Dubbed the Foreign Lobbying Reform Act, H.R. 4343 is Wolf’s latest attempt to curb the relatively limited, but hardly unheard of practice of ex-U.S. officials lobbying on behalf of foreign governments, with recent examples including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Wolf, who in 2007 proposed a five-year ban, says he’s particularly concerned with undemocratic foreign governments purchasing the services of influential ex-politicos. “The more evil they are, the more despicable they are or against the United States government they are, they more they pay, the more they need the help,” Wolf said, adding he doesn’t consider his bill a partisan matter. “It’s totally bipartisan … nonpartisan,” he said. “I don’t think what we have here is a partisan problem. It’s just a problem, period.”

In a related matter, Wolf today sent a letter to Sidley Austin Partner Carter Phillips asking that it reconsider its representation of Chinese telecom firm Huawei by a former member of Congress, citing its ties to the Chinese military. Although the letter doesn’t name him, former Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) is the congressman in question, Wolf’s office says. Read the letter here: http://bit.ly/Ja4hoo. Boucher told PI he has not seen the letter yet and doesn’t want to comment until he’s read it.

MALAWI TO MAKE D.C. PUSH: Speaking of which,the Republic of Malawi has brought on the Whitaker Group and The Moffett Group to help it navigate Washington. The Whitaker Group will "facilitate visits to the U.S., meetings with stakeholders, including U.S. civil society organizations and the U.S. government and will help to build partnerships in key development-oriented sectors," according to a document filed with the Justice Department. The firm's consultant fee is $150,000 for three months work. The Moffett Group, meanwhile, is working a subcontractor for the Whitaker Group and will receive $6,000-monthly retainer over the three-month contract.

EXCLUSIVE … YG NETWORK GOES PINK: The YG Network is launching YG "Woman Up," riffing off of the term "Man Up," to hone in on Republican women. The effort is the first women-focused initiative by the group. YG Network Policy Director Mary Anne Carter will direct the efforts, which include a four-pronged strategy, including survey research and focus groups, building an online community, economic analysis and issue advocacy with the goal of understanding better what language and viewpoints appeal to women and establish itself as the hub for center-right women frustrated with the policy debate. The group has a six-figure investment to launch the project and a target budget in the mid-seven figures. Click here for Anna's full story: http://politi.co/Id0tHm

A striking Wednesday to you, PI Nation, as we spare no detail for the keglers among you in reporting that 65 years ago today, President Harry Truman officially inaugurated the first White House bowling alley by downing seven of 10 standing pins on his first attempt.

Mark this historic occasion by rolling a juicy tip, hint, suggestion or comment to us at dlevinthal@politico.com and apalmer@politico.com. Please also become one of our Twitter followers at @apalmerdc and @davelevinthal. Among the folks to recently do so: @DCConnect, @blakeffm, @TheWeek, @TPCarney, @NewYorkPost, @American_Bridge, @Godbey, @Oparil, @MrDanZak, @CenterOnBudget, @afinland and @cspanannie.

Thanks for reading. And before we get back to the day’s top influence industry news, we have a special announcement:

NEW READER CONTEST! After a couple months away, PI is back with a new and awesome reader contest inspired by one Debbie Downer of a topic: debt. Why, you ask? Because it turns out that the flagging and finished presidential campaigns of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum aren’t the only ones deep in it, selling donor lists and begging supporters to help them pay their creditors. No, numerous former White House hopefuls, both Democrats and Republicans, find their dusty books still drenched in red. See here: http://politi.co/ILxHhM

Hence, your challenge: Propose a creative way for a specific presidential candidate to best dig out of the financial hole. Ideally, your suggestion will stay within the confines of established law. But as we all know, campaign finance rules are constantly changing — so be creative.

Email your responses with your full name and location to dlevinthal@politico.com and apalmer@politico.com by 10 a.m. Friday. The grand prize winner gets a T-shirt either lamenting Santorum’s ixnayed presidential bid (http://bit.ly/I8Yy7Y) or pining for Hillary Clinton to pay off her 2008 presidential campaign debt and consider a run four years from now (http://bit.ly/JnpS14). Runners up get their names and submissions in Friday’s edition of PI. Thanks for playing, and good luck!

LOBBYISTS, LAWMAKERS UNITE BEHIND FRATERNITIES, SORORITIES: One after another for the balance of two hours, congress members from both sides of the aisle last night spoke in support of one of the few allegiances that run deeper than political parties — the allegiance to one’s sorority or fraternity. PI was there to witness them joining forces for two primary purposes: to press passage of the latest version of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act, which in part would allow people to make tax-deductible contributions to Greek educational foundations for fraternity and sorority housing improvements and to raise money for the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee, which conducted the dinner event at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel. The PAC has a $500,000 fundraising goal for the election cycle.

The PAC’s executive director, Patton Boggs’s Kevin O’Neill, served as the master of ceremonies. Among congressional members who attended the off-the-record proceedings: Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), as well as House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Reps. Rick Berg (R-N.D.), Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), Francisco Canseco (R-Texas), Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), Robert Hurt (R-Va.), Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Billy Long (R-Mo.), John Mica (R-Fla.), Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.). Also in attendance — and he stayed to the end, past 10 p.m. — was retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “There’s probably not a PAC in town — maybe except AIPAC — that could get this many members together in one room,” Kingston told PI afterward. “It speaks really highly of the organization.”

Among the several hundred people attending were numerous lobbyists and government affairs professionals, including Micah Green, Larry Harris, Bret Boyles, Martha Kendrick, Jess Pung, Amy Davenport, Emily Dillard and Trevor Tullios of Patton Boggs; Kelly Bingel of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti; Christian Berle of the Log Cabin Republicans; Rusty Foster of motor fuel marketing association SIGMA; Rosario Palmieri of the National Association of Manufacturers; Bonnie Arthur of Hunton & Williams; Alison Griffin of Miles Above Strategies; Bruce Casner of Morgan Casner Associates, Julie Pawelcyzk from the Artemis Group, Sara Conrad of the Conrad Group, David Almacy of Edelman and Alex Schriver of the College Republican National Committee. Dozens of congressional staffers also attended.

GENWORTH GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS EXEC RETIRING, STARTING NEW FIRM:Mark Goldhaber, a senior vice president for affordable housing and government business development for insurer Genworth, is retiring today and starting his own firm, Goldhaber Policy Services. “As I begin a new chapter, at hopefully a slightly less frenetic pace, my passion for policy and particularly housing and mortgage finance policy remains stronger than ever,” Goldhaber wrote to colleagues. “Through my company, I will offer legislative, regulatory and issue management solutions. One of the most positive aspects of a career that has spanned over three decades in housing and mortgage finance are the professional relationships and friendships, which I know will continue as the next chapter begins.” Earlier, he worked for General Electric.

CORNERSTONE EXPANDS: Cornerstone Government Affairs is opening a Chicago office and adding Mike Forde and Bill Smith to lead the expanded presence. Forde joins from Mayer Brown, where he co-chaired the firm's commercial litigation practice. Forde's clients have included then-candidate Rahm Emanuel in his residency litigation challenging his qualifications to run for mayor of Chicago. Smith comes on board following a stint as general counsel to a state-charted community bank. “Since its founding, Cornerstone has successfully represented Illinois interests before the federal government, so the establishment of an Illinois office is a logical extension of our growing state government relations practice,” said Campbell Kaufman, managing partner, state government relations. The firm's Washington-based employees—Mike Smith, Amy Souders, Mark Mioduski and Timothy Wolfmeyer— are Illinois natives and are expected to be engaged in growing the Illinois presence. The firm already has a number of Chicago-based clients, including United Airlines, Boeing, The Y, University of Chicago and DePaul University.

JOHN EDWARDS JUDGMENT WATCH, DAY 3: John Edwards’s “seductive abilities” didn’t just involve wooing women who weren’t his wife. They extended to“how the presidential hopeful allegedly persuaded a longtime close aide, Andrew Young, to become more and more deeply involved in covering up” an affair with a campaign aide who allegedly benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions, our Josh Gerstein reports from Greensboro, N.C., where Edwards is on trial for federal campaign finance violations. “It was crazy,” Young said Tuesday. “We were all scared to death. He was a viable presidential candidate and this was a truckload of money, much more than had ever flowed through our account.” Read Josh’s full story here: http://politi.co/JyQrSe

A FINAL ‘TASTE OF NEW YORK’ FOR TOWNS: As Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) prepares to sunset his congressional career, his colleagues are coming together for the 29th Annual “Taste of New York” celebration to fete the 15-term congressman. The catch many downtowners will no doubt be excited about — no need to cut a check. Democratic leaders House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) are expected to attend in addition to members of the New York Democratic delegation. The event is being hosted by a committee of downtowners, including former Rep. Al Wynn (D-Md.), who’s now a senior adviser at Dickstein ShapiroLarry Grossman, founder and CEO of TheGrossman Group, and Rita Norton, SVP of government affairs at AmerisourceBergen Corporation.

KIRKPATRICK GETS HELP FROM FRIENDS AT FUNDRAISERS: Former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), running again for Congress, is hosting a fundraising breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, where the minimum contribution is $250. It follows a Monday evening fundraising reception in which several prominent House members attended. See the invite here: http://bit.ly/IogQg2

McCASKILL HUNTS FOR CASH WITH COLLEAGUE, PAC: Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and the USAA Employee PAC are hosting a fundraiser at 11:45 a.m. Thursday for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) at the Monocle restaurant near Capitol Hill. Minimum donation is $500. View the invitation: http://bit.ly/Jq60rD. Meanwhile, Bistro Bis is the scene this afternoon for a fundraiser for Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who’s following up Thursday with an 8:30 a.m. breakfast fundraiser downtown: http://bit.ly/IcVd6H

EXCITED TO CELEBRATE WORLD IP DAY? THE CHAMBER’S GOT YOU COVERED: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will commemorate World Intellectual Property Day Thursday with a reception at its headquarters, hosted by their Global Intellectual Property Center. The GIPC will unveil new “IP 101” infographics to mark the 12 anniversary of the observance. The drinks start flowing at 5:30 p.m. and D.C. area artists Margo MacDonald and Lucky Dub are both expected to perform live.

BIG ‘I’ CONFERENCE DESCENDS ON WASHINGTON: The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America’s legislative conference and convention kicks off today with Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and ends Friday after a full week of events at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. In addition to Schock; South Dakota Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference; Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.); and 1,000 other attendees are expected throughout the week.

LCV AND PRIORITIES HIT ROMNEY IN NEW TV SPOT: The League of Conservation Voters and the Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action have teamed up to hit Mitt Romney with an ad labeling him as the oil industry’s “$200 Million Man.” The groups hope to turn the blame for high oil prices on Romney by linking him to billionaire oil executives David and Charles Koch. “Big Oil’s pledged two hundred million to help Mitt Romney,” says the voice over in the spot. “And Romney’s pledged to protect their profits and billions in special tax breaks. So when you fill up your tank, remember who’s in the tank for big oil.” LCV’s Gene Karpinski, and Priorities USA Action’s Paul Begala will host a conference call this afternoon with more details on the ad, which you can find here: http://bit.ly/I1sQFV

KERREY FINDS CASH ALMOST EVERYWHERE BUT NEBRASKA IN HIS BID FOR SENATE: Since when were friends with money a liability? Ask Bob Kerrey. The former two-term senator raked in an impressive $900,000 in the month after announcing late February his bid to replace retiring Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). But all except $210,000 of it came from supporters outside Nebraska, including friends from New York and Washington — the latest reminder of his decade outside the Cornhusker State. Robin has the story: http://politi.co/IpqBOp